Tag: equipment

Sony just announced a groundbreaking development in the world of camera image sensors: it has created a 1.46-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor that has global shutter. This is the first-ever CMOS sensor of over 1MP that has both back-illumination and global shutter.
Backside illumination (BSI) is an image sensor design that uses its arrangement of imaging elements to increase the amount of light that’s captured, leading to improved low-light performance. While this type of design was previously used for things like astro cameras and security cameras, it has become a prominent technology in consumer still photography cameras.
In 2015, Sony’s

Cinema camera maker RED and Foxconn (best known for manufacturing the iPhone) have announced that they’re teaming up to create affordable professional-grade cinema cameras for the general public.
Nikkei reports that the two companies are aiming to slash both price tags and the physical size of cameras.
“We will make cameras that will shoot professional-quality films in 8K resolution but at only a third of current prices and a third of current camera sizes,” says Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou. RED’s cameras are popular in the filmmaking industry but cost upwards of $30,000.
Foxconn manufactured an estimated 40% of all consumer

Do you use Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries in your photo equipment? You may be able to get the same performance at a much lower cost. This interesting 7-minute video from Matthew Eargle of AirborneSurfer looks into whether these relatively expensive batteries ($20 per pack of 4) are actually identical to the much cheaper IKEA LADDA batteries that cost just $5 per pack of 4.
Noticing that all of these rechargeable batteries are made in Japan, Eargle guess that there must be some overlap in the supply chain. There’s probably not that many battery factories pumping out different batteries for all

Want to see how popular full-frame cameras from Sony, Nikon, and Canon stack up? Here’s a 20-minute comparison video from Dan and Sally Watson that looks at the differences between the Sony a7R III, Nikon D850, and Canon 5D Mark IV.
The video runs through pretty much all questions you might have about the cameras, covering everything from ISO handling to video.
For usability, the LiveView showing up in the viewfinder of the Sony A7R III is a major plus point for Sally. Dan agrees, pointing out that the Nikon D850 is the weakest when it comes to LiveView usability.

Lensbaby has announced the new Burnside 35, a creative 35mm f/2.8 lens that’s the first-ever wide-angle adaptation of the Petzval lens design.
Photos captured with the Burnside 35 have a bright central area of sharp focus and “striking” color rendition. This area is surrounded by a region of swirling bokeh and vignetting, which is variable and controlled by the photographer.
An effect slider on the lens operates as a second internal 8-blade iris, changing the shape and intensity of the swirl in the bokeh while controlling the brightness of the center and vignetting on the edges.
“You can toggle

Fujifilm just unveiled the X-H1, a pro-grade X Series mirrorless camera with 4K and professional video capabilities. As recent rumors foretold, the X-H1 is also the first X Series body with in-body image stabilization.
“The new X-H1 is the highest performance camera in the X Series line of mirrorless cameras,” Fujifilm says.

The X-H1 features a 24.3-megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS III crop sensor paired with an X-Processor Pro image processing engine. It has an ISO range of 200-12800 (extendable to 100-51200) and a continuous shooting speed of 14fps.
For video shooters, the X-H1 boasts DCI 4K (4096×2160),

Is it worth upgrading to the latest fully loaded iMac Pro, which will cost you $14,000? Filmmaker Parker Walbeck recently went hands-on to find out. Here’s his interesting 4-minute video review that looks at the speed comparisons between a fully loaded iMac Pro and a fully loaded $6,000 iMac.
The review shows side-by-side comparisons of each computer running a number of tasks. First off, Walbeck tests playback speeds of RED 8K footage. The iMac Pro plays back flawlessly at real speed while the iMac had to have the resolution reduced to 1/8th to see the same smooth playback.
Walbeck found

Late last Wednesday night, I was browsing the B&H Photo website looking for a refurbished Nikon D810. I entered “Nikon refurbished” as my search term, then sorted the results by price from high-to-low so that the D810 would float to the top. Lo and behold, right above the D810 as the first result was a “New Arrival” Nikon 13mm f/5.6 AI-S, refurbished with case.
Remembering Ken Rockwell’s “Holy Grail” article on this lens, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. The listing had no description and no photo, but after doing some research to make sure

The Zorki is a series of 35mm rangefinder cameras that were made in the Soviet Union from 1948 and 1978. Since they were originally designed to be cheap Leica clones, it’s not uncommon to find fake Leica cameras that are actually modified Zorkis. But one Russian camera collector recently found the opposite: his $15 Zorki turned out to be an $800 Leica.
Collector Vitalijs Kezens tells USSRPhoto that he recently purchased a used Zorki-C camera for €12 (~$15) at a local Zorki auction. These cameras can often be found for as little as $20 to $40 on eBay.
Upon closer

LENSCAPT is a new “faster lens cap” that’s designed to never fall off your lens. It works by screwing onto the lens’ filter threads, allowing it to remain secure and safe. The lens cap then pops out to the side, swiveling around a hinge rather than being completely removed, so is always ready for use.
﻿
The spring-loaded hinge keeps it out of the way of your photos, allowing it to swing out to 180-degrees. It deploys almost instantly with just the “flick of a thumb.”
It also has a “reinforced inner rim” to provide protection against knocks and

DPRSplit is a new utility by LibRaw (the makers of FastRawViewer and RawDigger) that lets you squeeze extra dynamic range out of Canon 5D Mark IV RAW files. It may sound like magic, but the program works by separating the data captured by the DSLR’s Dual Pixel sensor.
The main screen of DPRSplit.
“Canon 5D Mark IV’s sensor has a somewhat unusual pixel arrangement: each pixel is composed of two subpixels,” writes FastRawViewer. “If Dual Pixel RAW mode is enabled in the camera, the resulting CR2 file contains two images, or two frames: one composite, made from reading both

Photographer Matt Granger has been testing out the Leica NOCTILUX 75mm f/1.25 lens, which retails for a whopping $12,800, and in this 9-minute test video he shares his initial thoughts about using it.
Granger took the Leica 75mm, the most expensive retail Leica lens, out to shoot at a harbor with his model Steph. He worked to “obliterate” the background with the incredibly shallow depth of field allowed by the f/1.25 maximum aperture.
The $12,800 Leica NOCTILUX 75mm f/1.25 lens.
While the amount of light let into the camera by this lens is a huge

Panasonic has just announced the Lumix GX9 mirrorless and XZ200 compact cameras. Both cameras offer 4K video recording in pint-sized bodies.

Panasonic Lumix GX9

The Panasonic Lumix GX9 is a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera with a 20.3-megapixel sensor that leaves out a low-pass filter for increased sharpness. Backed by a Venus Engine image processor, the camera has an ISO range of 100-25600 and a continuous shooting speed of 9 frames per second.
There’s built-in 5-axis Dual I.S. stabilization in the camera, which combines 2-axis optical stabilization with 5-axis in-body stabilization to help compensate for shake.
For autofocusing,

If you want to see a picture of Canon and Nikon’s continued dominance in the world of sports photography, just take a look at the massive camera arsenals each company brought to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Canon and Nikon both have 60 tech reps from over 10 countries around the world on hand to provide photographers with assistance, including services such as cleaning, checking, and calibrating equipment.

Canon’s Camera Arsenal

Canon says it has 1,359 different items on hand, including 205 cameras and 520 lenses. 100 of those cameras are 1D X Mark II DSLRs, which

Canon is set to unveil its first mirrorless camera capable of 4K video recording, according to a new report. The capability will be appearing in the soon-to-be-announced EOS M50.
Canon Rumors reports that the EOS M50 will be Canon’s first APS-C crop sensor camera to shoot 4K video.
Canon has been lagging behind when it comes to offering 4K video across its digital camera lines, so it looks like Canon is finally making a push in that direction starting with the M50.
Canon Rumors also reports that the M50 will feature an EF-M mount and will be announced sometime this

Smooth Trans Focus (STF) was invented by Minolta in the 1980s and became available in the Minolta 135mm f/2.8 STF in 1999. The special design of the lens with an Apodization (APD) filter allows for the smoothing of out-of-focus areas, or bokeh. The APD filter reduces the light transmitted through a lens, but the strength is gradually decreased toward the center of the filter.
To simplify the concept, an APD filter is like a gradual neutral density filter, except the gradient is radial. As I illustrate below with a simple single lens, the bokeh ball formed by a light

Fujifilm’s upcoming X-H1 mirrorless camera has been leaked. It’s the first X Series camera with in-body image stabilization (IBIS), and it’s filled with features lacking in the X-T2.
Rumors of Fujifilm bringing IBIS to the X Series have been swirling for months, and the X-H1 will turn those rumors into reality. The details about the camera were leaked in separate posts by FujiRumors, Digicam-info, and Nokishita. The camera is designed for pros and features 4K video recording, a rugged build, and much more.
Here are the main specs of the camera, according to a leaked press release translated

Johnnie Behiri of cinema5D was recently invited to a private tour of the Fujifilm and Fujinon factory in Sendai, Japan, where Fujifilm cameras and lenses are manufactured. While there, he shot this 4-minute video showing what goes on inside the facility.
“This factory is responsible for making the FUJINON MK lenses, X-T2 camera and GFX 50S camera and lenses,” Behiri writes at cinema5D.
Behiri getting suited up to enter the manufacturing areas.One of the lenses being made at the factory.Fujifilm X-T2 cameras being assembled.
“It was a great chance to see how some of our prizes are made

Posts navigation

SeriouslyPhotography is curated by Keith Teare. The top Photography and Videography blogs are monitored. It is intended as a convenience for those who want to monitor the ever-changing ecosystem - both in terms of the equipment, software, people and the ideas underlying their activities.
For more information see http://s.erious.ly or chat with me live through chat.center at chat.center/kteare.